The Tale of the Digiprotectors: The Coming Shadows
by Digiprotector
Summary: The next chapter in the Digprotector Saga. After escaping the Shadow, John runs into a familar face.
1. Prolouge

Prologue  
  
What's going on? Why do these crazy things always seem to happen to me? I come home one day and turn on my computer. Next thing I know I end up in this weird place, the Digital World. I find this "thing", a digivice, and get attacked by a rhino on steroids, Montacromon. That's when I meet Koromon and Tsunomon. They're ok, I guess. A little weird, but there still pretty cool. They protected me from Montacromon. After that, Koromon took me to his village and introduced me to his friends. That was soo cool, until Montacromon showed up. But Koromon and Tsunomon protected the village, and with my help, digivolved to Agumon and Gabumon and defeated Montacromon, or so we thought. When we left the village, a whole herd of Montacromon attacked us. Luckily, we were able to escape and get back home. When we went back to the Digital World, we were attacked by Tyranomon. Agumon and Gabumon did their best, but they couldn't stop them. But after they digivolved to Greymon and Garurumon, those Tyranomon were toast. Then, after we saved our new friend, Tentomon, from those weird rabbit things, the Gazimon, this weird kid attacked us. He calls himself the Shadow. He sent his Black Agumon and Black Gabumon after us, but luckily Tentomon was able to digivolve to Kabuterimon and get us out of there. Before we got away, Shadow said something about a prophecy, a legend. Something about "Digiprotectors" and "the Legendary Digivice". I don't know what he's talking about, nor do I care. I just want to get as far away from that guy as I can. But I can't help but think about what he said. "Digiprotector". That's what he called me. But why? 


	2. Chapter 1: Another Appears

Chapter 1: On the Run  
  
"Hey John!! Wake up!" cried Agumon, waving his claw in John's face.  
"Huh?" said John, turning towards his friend.  
"What's wrong?" asked Gabumon, who was sitting next to him.  
"Nothing. I'm just thinking about what the Shadow called me. 'Digiprotector'. Do either of you guys know what it could mean?"  
"Huh..," said Gabumon, scratching his head as he tried to think. "Nope."  
"What about you, Agumon?" asked John.  
Agumon was caught of guard by the question. "Don't look at me. You're the brains of this outfit."  
"Ok, ok," said John, giving him a smile.  
"Hate to break up the involved conversation up there, but when can I land?" asked Kabuterimon. "We've been flying for about an hour and you guys aren't exactly as light as feathers."  
"Oops!!" said John. "Sorry about that, Kabuterimon. Didn't mean to forget about you." He patted the large digimon on the back, then turned around, looking in back of him. "I don't see any sign of the Shadow. I guess we can land here."  
"All right!!" cried Kabuterimon. "Everybody hold on!!" John grabbed hold of his cap as Kabuterimon began his decent.  
  
"Its so nice to finally be on solid ground!" said Gabumon, as he jumped off Kabuterimon's back.   
"You can say that again!" said Agumon as he jumped off Kabuterimon's back, and landed on John.  
"Hey!! Watch it!!" he said with a laugh.  
"I'm just happy to give my wings a rest," said Kabuterimon, as he reverted back to Tentomon. "They feel like their going to break off!!"  
John walked over to Tentomon, and patted him on the back. "Well, buddy, we can all use some rest. And this looks like the perfect place." He looked around the small clearing they were in. It was surrounded by bushes, with trees all around, giving them shade.  
"So what do you think, guys?" asked John. When he heard no answer, he turned around. When he saw Agumon and Gabumon, he laughed. There was Agumon, lying under a tree, with a blade of grass between his teeth. Gabumon was next to him, eyes closed. Both had their claws behind their heads. "Already comfortable, I see," said John.  
"Of course," said Agumon. Gabumon just snored. John smiled, then laid down up against the nearest tree. He looked up at the sky, and thought, "This is great! Nothing can go wrong."  
  
Suddenly, he heard a loud noise. He jumped up. "What was that?" asked John.  
"I'll take a look," said Tentomon, as he went to investigate the noise. John got up and walked over to Agumon and Gabumon. "Wake up."  
"Huh?" said Gabumon, rubbing his eyes. "What's wrong?"  
"Tentomon and I heard something. He went to go check it out."  
"That's all?" said Agumon, turning towards John. "You woke us up for that?"  
John gave Agumon a disgusted look. Just then, Tentomon flew out of the bushes. "Someone is walking through the forest."  
"So what?" said Agumon, turning away.  
Tentomon gave him a dirty look. "Maybe you didn't hear me. I said I saw SOMEONE."  
Gabumon gave Tentomon a questioned look. "So?"  
Tentomon shook his head. "That someone was followed by two Digimon."  
"And?" John shook his head, then stopped. "Did you say two Digimon?"  
"Yes", said Tentomon, happy that John had caught on to what he was saying.  
"SO?" said Agumon, clearly agitated.  
John shook his head in disgust. "Who just attacked us?"  
"That kid," said Gabumon. "The Shadow."  
"And who did he have with him?" asked John.  
"He had Dark Agumon and Dar..." Agumon didn't finish his sentence as John's words sunk in. "Oh no!!"  
John and Tentomon raised their heads in triumph. "Now you get?"  
"What are we going to do?" said Agumon.  
"Well," said John, "what do you think? We're going to get them before they get us."  
"What?" You want us to attack them?" said Tentomon, shocked. "Don't you remember what happened last time? When we were almost killed?!?"  
"Ya!" said Agumon.  
"Don't worry about it. They're probably just as tired as we are. So, if we get the jump on them, they won't be able to fight back."  
"Are you sure? It might not work," said Gabumon.  
"Of course it will!!" said John with a smile. "How can you doubt me?"  
Gabumon took one look at John's smile and turned the other way, shaking his head. "How did I get stuck with him?"  
  
**************************************  
  
John pushed a branch out of his way. Agumon, Gabumon, and Tentomon pushed a shrub out of their way. They looked at the three figures.   
"There they are," thought John. "Funny, I though he was taller." He looked at the human-looking figure. It stood a little over 5". It was smaller, in height and build. It looked slimmer than John remembered. "Maybe we were wrong."  
"John, what's wrong?" asked Agumon.  
John shook the feeling off. "Nothing. Now stay quiet, so we can catch them off guard."  
John took one last look at the figures, then turned to his friends. "OK, lets go."  
The group slowly made their way towards the figures. When they were a few feet away, John raised his hand. "OK. When I count to three, jump them."  
"OK" said Agumon. "No problem."  
John smiled. "All right." He turned towards the figures. "All right," he thought to himself. "Let's do it."  
"One..."  
Agumon and Gabumon tensed up.  
"Two..."  
Tentomon's breathing became shallow.  
"THREE!!!!"  
The four jumped out from behind the bush. John dove for the human-looking shadow, while Agumon and the other jumped for the smaller shadows.  
A cry ran out as John wrestled the shadow to the ground, but John didn't hear it. Adrenaline was pumping through him. As they hit the ground, John turned over the shadow over on it back.  
Grabbing the shadow by the collar, John raised his fist, ready to strike, rage burning in his eyes. Suddenly, he stopped short. He looked down at the figure below him. It was a young woman, no older than he was. She had long brown hair that went down past her shoulders, and hazel eyes She had a look of fear and surprise in her eyes. John let her go, and her back hit the group.  
"John..?" said the girl.  
John took a step back. He tripped on a stone and fell to the ground. As he back away, he had the same look of shock and surprise on his face as the girl. "Ra..Ra..Rachel?" 


	3. Chapter 2: A Story Unveiled

John continued backing up until his back hit a tree. "Rachel?" He was still shocked, seeing her there. "H..h..how?"  
The girl didn't answer. All she could do was stare at him. Slowly, he picked himself up. The girl grabbed hold of a nearby tree and pulled herself to her feet. Neither of them took their eyes off each other.  
As John rose to his feet, Agumon walked up to him. "John, do you know her?"  
John turned towards his friend. "Ya. Sh…she's my …… my….. girlfriend," he answered, looking down at the ground.  
"Girlfriend? What's that?" asked Agumon, scratching his head.  
"I don't know," said Gabumon. "Do you know, Tentomon?"  
"Nope," answered the insect Digimon, as he hovered over to John.  
"Don't you guys know anything?" came a voice behind the girl.  
"Ya, didn't he teach you anything?" came another.  
John couldn't recognize either of the voices. All he could get from them was that they sounded feminine. John and the others looked in the direction of the voices. From behind Rachel came a figure. John couldn't recognize. It looked like a bird with pink feathers. Another figure came out after it. It looked like some sort of plant-creature, with a flower on its head.  
"And who are you?" asked Agumon.  
The bird looked at him, then turned away. "None of your business." The plant laughed.  
Rachel turned towards them. "Stop that! That wasn't very nice." She didn't look very pleased.  
The plant was going to reply, but when she saw the look Rachel had on her face, she stopped short.  
The bird put her wings on her hips. "What do you expect us to act? They jump us as we walk through the forest, and we're supposed to be polite about it?!?!?"  
Rachel turned towards the plant. "That's still no reason to be so rude."  
"If that's not a good reason, then I don't know what is!!"  
As the two bickered, John looked towards his friends. Agumon saw the look on his face. He looked lost. Gabumon also saw the look on John's face. His only reply was, "I feel the same way."

As the two girls continued to fight, Agumon and the others could see that John was reaching his limit. Tentomon walked over to the bickering girls. "Um, ah… Ladies? I think you should…."  
The two girls turned towards him. "STAY OUT OF THIS!!!!" they yelled.  
"Ok," said Tentomon as he flew behind John.  
John shook his head. "I can't take much more of this," he sighed. He made his way over to Rachel and the bird. They both turned towards him. "I said stay out of this!!" said the bird, angrily. John stepped back, surprised.  
"Uh oh…" said Agumon. "Now she's done it."  
John began to grind his teeth, and clench his fists. First he's almost killed by a psycho kid and his Digimon, then, out of no where, his girlfriend appears out of the blue. And know this? That was the last straw. "THAT'S IT!!!" cried John. " Will you two just SHUT UP?!?!?!?!"  
Rachel and the bird both stopped and looked at John. They were speech-less; mouths left hanging open.

"Now that I got your attention," said John, "maybe you can answer a question: WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?!?!?"  
It took a moment for John's words to sink into Rachel. "Huh?"  
"I said, 'what are you doing here?'" replied John, taking a step forward. He had an angry look on his face.  
"Well…" said Rachel. She had a worried look on here face. Then, suddenly, she smiled. "What are you doing here?"  
"I asked you first," said John.  
"Well I asked second," said Rachel, a even bigger smile coming to her face.  
John's blood began to boil. "DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ME!!" he cried. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?!?"  
Rachel jumped back in surprise. She had never seen John act like this before. He was usually so calm and playful. Now, he was angry, stressed, and …… afraid? She looked at him with a pained look in her eyes.  
When John saw the hurt look on Rachel's face, a feeling of regret swept over him. With a shake of his head, he said, "I'm sorry. We haven't had what you would call a 'good day'."  
Rachel sighed in relief, smiled, and walked over to John. "It's ok. I know you wouldn't yell like that unless something was wrong."  
John turned towards her, and smiled.

"Hu hum!!!" Agumon cleared his throat. John turned towards his friend.  
"Aren't you going to introduce us?"  
"Oh," said John, giving Agumon a weak smile "Sorry."  
John turned back to Rachel. "Let me introduce you to my friends," he said with a smile. "Agumon,"  
"Hello!" said the dino digimon as he waved hello.  
"Gabumon,"  
"How do you do?" said Gabumon, as he bowed to Rachel.  
"And Tentomon."  
"How ya' doin'?" said Tentomon as he hovered next to John.  
Rachel let out a giggle as she shook hands (or is it claws) with the digimon.  
"Hey! What about us?" cried the bird. She and the plant ran up to Rachel, with a hurt expression on their faces.  
"Oh, I almost forgot," said Rachel, turning towards the two digimon. "John, this is Biyomon and Palmon."  
The bird waved her wing at John. The plant curtsied. "It's a pleasure to meet you."  
"Hello, Biyomon. Hello, Palmon," said John, a smile on his face.

"So, ……" said John, looking at Rachel as she leaned against a tree. John had brought Rachel and the others back to the clearing. The Digimon where scattered around the area. Palmon and Biyomon were sitting under a tree, talking, with Tentomon listening intently. Agumon and Gabumon were close by, lying by a tree. It seemed like they may have been listening, or sleeping (you can never tell with them). John had taken Rachel to the opposite side of the clearing. He wanted to talk to her privately. "Yes, John," said Rachel, turning towards him.  
"Um…….," said John, as he began to fidget. He was very nervous. "Oh man, is this weird. I haven't spoken to her for weeks now," said John to himself, "and now she shows up here. I haven't seen her, not since we had that argument……. I got the Shadow hunting me down, and now this." John shook his head.  
"John, what is it?" said Rachel, pulling John back to reality. When he looked up, he saw that Rachel was sitting beside him. He jumped back, surprised. "Oh nothing," he said, faking a smile.  
"Oh, ok," said Rachel. She knew something was bothering John, but she knew better then to force him to talk about it. That would just make him feel worse. They both sat there, silent.

"So…," said John, breaking the silence, "what are you doing here?"  
Rachel, who was staring off into the distance, turned back to John. "Huh?"  
"I said, 'What are you doing here?'"  
"Oh, " said Rachel. She began to blush out of embarrassment. John chuckled to himself. "Well, it all started a couple of weeks ago," she said, thinking back, "just after …." She trailed off, looking away from John with a sad look in her eyes.  
John looked down at the ground. He knew what she meant. "Ya, and?"  
Rachel turned back to John. "Well, like I said, a couple of days after…… it, I got a little worried. I hadn't heard from you for awhile."  
John looked up at her, a little surprised. He thought to himself, "She was worried about me? Even after ….?"  
"Well, " continued Rachel, "when I didn't see you around school, I decided to go by your apartment, … and check on you." She turned away from, John, embarrassed. "I went by after school. I knocked on the door, but no one answered. I guessed no one was home, so I started to leave. But then, I heard a strange noise. It sounded like … like…. nothing I've ever heard before."  
"She must have heard me leaving for the Digital World," John though to himself.  
"When the noise died down, I went back to the door. I knocked on the door again. When no one answered,…." She looked away from John.  
"Rachel what is it?" asked John.  
"Well, when no one answered the door, I did something that I shouldn't have," said Rachel, looking ashamed. "I tried opening the door. It wasn't locked, so it just swung open. And I… I… I walked in." She turned towards John, looking him in the eye. "I'm sorry, John. I didn't want to go in, but I was worried. I though someone might have broken in. I… I… I" She had a look of regret on her face. "I wanted to make sure you were ok….." She turned away again.  
"Oh man, I thought I locked the door," John thought to himself, thinking back to that day. "No wonder Mom was so mad at me." He turned towards Rachel. "Rachel, its ok. With the door open like that, anyone would have done the same thing."  
Rachel looked at John's face. "But…but I still shouldn't have…."  
"Don't worry about it. I know that you meant well.", said John, trying to comfort Rachel. "Anyway, I was the baka who left the door open." John stuck out his tongue and hit his head with a closed fist, in an attempt to make Rachel feel better. Suddenly, he jumped up. "OWW!!! MY TOUNGE!!!". He began to wave his hands over his injured tongue.  
Rachel tried to hold back her laughter with her hands, but to no avail. She couldn't help but laugh at John's antics.  
"Well, at least that got a laugh out of you," said John, as he sat back down, still nursing his tongue. Rachel's laughter began to subside. "It feel any better?" she said, still giggling.  
"As best as its going to get," replied John. "So...finish your story."  
"Well," said Rachel. "After I made my way into the apartment, I looked around to make sure everything was ok. Everything looked fine, except for a light coming from one of the rooms."  
"My room."  
Rachel nodded. "I made my way to the door, and looked inside. The room looked like it usually does: an unmade bed, school books scattered across the floor, and…," Rachel smirked and turned towards John," a pile of clothes left on the floor."  
"Hey! In my defense, I was going to get to that….. later."  
Rachel laughed. "Anyway, the light seemed to be coming from your computer screen, so I walked over to it. The light seemed to die down the closer I got. When I got to the desk, I moved my hand towards the monitor. Right before I touched it, the light exploded, filling the entire room. It seemed to be pulling me in. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them,"  
John finished her sentence, "you found yourself here."  
Rachel nodded. "Right, but I didn't know it at the time. I was in a tunnel. It was really dark. I stumbled along, trying to find my way out. Suddenly, I saw a bright light come from the far end of the tunnel. For some reason, I was drawn towards it. As I followed the light, I entered a small cavern. There was some witting on the walls, in a language that I couldn't understand. At the fair end of the room, there were a few words I could make out. 'One will come from another world…….', and something about a .. a digivice."  
"A digivice?" John began to watch Rachel carefully, taking in every word she said. "She couldn't have found ……."  
"Yes a 'digivice'. Below it stood a pedestal," Rachel continued. "And on it, was the source of the light. As I walked towards it, the light began to fade. Something was giving of the light, and I was drawn towards it.. I walked closer and saw…"  
John pulled out his digivice and showed it to Rachel. "This?"  
"Yes! That is what I saw." She put her hand into her pocket, and pulled out a digivice. She showed it to John. "It was just sitting there. I picked it up. I don't know why, but I felt that it was mine. Suddenly, the bright light returned and filled the cavern."  
"And you found yourself outside?" asked John.  
"Yes!! I found myself in a field. I still don't know how I got out there." She began to think about it, then stopped. "But how did you know about the words on the wall, and about the light. And how did you find one of these?" Rachel motioned towards the digivice in John's hand.


End file.
